Proclamation 6175—Agreement on Trade Relations Between the United States of America and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic

1. Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, as President of the United States of America, I, acting through duly empowered representatives, entered into negotiations with representatives of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic to conclude an agreement on trade relations between the United States of America and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic.

2. These negotiations were conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Trade Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-618, January 3, 1975; 88 Stat. 1978), as amended (the "Trade Act").

3. As a result of these negotiations, an "Agreement on Trade Relations Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Czechoslovak Federative Republic," including exchanges of letters which form an integral part of the Agreement, the foregoing in English and Czech, was signed on April 12, 1990, by duly empowered representatives of the two Governments and is set forth as an annex to this proclamation.

4. This Agreement conforms to the requirements relating to bilateral commercial agreements set forth in section 405(b) of the Trade Act (b)).

5. Article XVIII of the Agreement provides that the Agreement shall enter into force on the date of exchange of written notices of acceptance by the two Governments.

6. Section 405(c) of the Trade Act (c)) provides that a bilateral commercial agreement providing nondiscriminatory treatment to the products of a country heretofore denied such treatment, and a proclamation implementing such agreement, shall take effect only if approved by the Congress under the provisions of that Act.

7. Section 604 of the Trade Act authorizes the President to embody in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States the substance of the provisions of that Act, of other acts affecting import treatment, and actions taken thereunder.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including but not limited to sections 404, 405 and 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, do proclaim that:

(1) This proclamation shall become effective, said Agreement shall enter into force, and nondiscriminatory treatment shall be extended to the products of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, in accordance with the terms of said Agreement, on the date of exchange of written notices of acceptance in accordance with Article XVIII of said Agreement. The United States Trade Representative shall publish notice of the effective date in the Federal Register.

(2) Effective with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, into the customs territory of the United States on or after the date provided in paragraph (1) of this proclamation, general note 3(b) of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, enumerating those countries whose products are subject to duty at the rates set forth in rate of duty column 2 of the tariff schedule, is modified by striking out "Czechoslovakia".

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifteenth.

GEORGE BUSH